Riyadh – Mubasher: Official from the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) on Wednesday forecast positive growth for the Saudi economy in the coming period and said that they were not worried by deflation, according to Reuters.
Officials “painted a highly positive picture of the economy,” Reuters reported.
Recently released data indicated a recession in the Saudi economy in the second quarter of 2017 with gross domestic product (GDP) declining quarter-on-quarter, whereas private sector growth remained weak.
Saudi consumer price inflation was negative for the eighth month in a row, the data indicated.
Despite that, SAMA governor Ahmed al-Kholifey projected positive economic growth in the coming period.
“Another central bank official said the bank was not worried about deflation because consumption was rising. Officials also said they saw no reason for the riyal to fall in the forward foreign exchange market, that liquidity in the banking system was good, and that there was no concern about banks’ bad loans,” Reuters concluded.
